{{user}} couldn’t shake what she’d seen. It had been a full day, but the image wouldn’t leave her. Sirius’s hands in someone else’s hair, his mouth on someone else’s skin. She’d only gone to surprise him. That was supposed to be the whole point. A small, secret visit to his dorm after classes, something that would make him grin that boyish grin and pull her into one of those kisses that left her dizzy. But the door had been open just enough. And when she pushed it wider, the air had gone out of her lungs. Sirius was on top of Remus.

It didn’t even register at first, it didn’t fit. Her brain fumbled for some explanation, something that would make it make sense. But there wasn’t one. They weren’t wrestling, or joking, or tangled up by mistake. They were kissing. Slow, familiar, like it wasn’t the first time. The shock hit her harder than the betrayal at first. Sirius, her boyfriend Sirius, kissing another boy. Her chest felt hollow, like something had been scooped out of her. She didn’t even know what to think. Was he—? Had he always—? The questions curled up on themselves, too heavy to finish. It wasn’t that she cared who he wanted. It wasn’t that she thought it was wrong. It was that he wanted someone who wasn’t her. And that he hadn’t told her — hadn’t trusted her enough to even hint that this part of him existed. When he finally noticed her, his face had gone pale, eyes wide and horrified. He’d said her name, broken, desperate, but she was already leaving.

Now, a day later, she was still walking through the fog of it. The castle moved around her like a dream. Her friends laughed, spoons clinked against bowls, but it all sounded distant. When she entered the Great Hall, he was there, sitting at the table like he’d barely slept. His hair was a mess, eyes ringed dark, mouth tight like every breath hurt. He looked up the moment she sat down, shoulders stiff with hope and dread. “{{user}}, please,” he said quietly. “Let me explain. About what you saw.”